Grand marshal grateful for fire department's service

Wednesday

May 2, 2012 at 2:07 PM

The grand marshal of this year's Thibodaux Firemen's Fair said he views his role as both an honor and a way to repay the department.

Katie UrbaszewskiStaff Writer

The grand marshal of this year's Thibodaux Firemen's Fair said he views his role as both an honor and a way to repay the department.Fifteen years ago, Richard "Alan" Savoie's baby daughter was diagnosed with a congenital heart problem, and he and his wife flew to San Francisco for open-heart surgery.Their daughter, Rebecca, would need blood. The family of Savoie's wife, Susan Harang Savoie, had a long history of volunteering in the department, and firefighters organized a blood drive for them, he said.Doctors discovered Alan Savoie, 51, was a match, and in the end he was the girl's blood donor. During their last day in San Francisco, doctors told them firefighters could stop sending blood."The Thibodaux Fire Department has flooded our blood bank," Alan Savoie recalled the doctor telling him.Alan Savoie asked his father-in-law, Warren Harang II, past grand marshal and a volunteer firefighter, how he could repay the department."He looked me dead in the eye and said, ‘Boy, support them,'" Alan Savoie said.One of the ways he said he's done this is by going to the Firemen's Fair and its auction. He said he was surprised, but accepting "was a no-brainer" when firefighters asked if he would be grand marshal."This whole experience has been overwhelming," he said. "It's an honor, and I'm overwhelmed by the opportunity."A Belle Rose native and co-owner of River Parish Contractors, Alan Savoie said he first attended the Firemen's Fair with a group of friends when he was 17 or 18. If someone had told him then that he would be grand marshal, "I don't think I ever would've imagined it," he said.In contrast, Susan Savoie's family has a long association with the Firemen's Fair. She is related to the Peltier family, whose members served as grand marshal several times in the late 1800s and into the 1900s, Assistant Fire Chief Chad Mire said. Alan Savoie is the 14th grand marshal in the family."We've been going (to the fair) since we could walk," Susan Savoie said of her family's participation.Alan Savoie has some big shoes to fill, especially considering that last year's fair raised a record $600,400. The previous high was in 2009, when the total was $440,000.Alan Savoie said he hopes to raise as much as he can because the Thibodaux Volunteer Fire Department deserves it."It's about the firemen, the good people who do this on a daily basis, who leave their families in the middle of the night to fight fires. ... I can't wait to put a white tux on and lead the parade on a horse, but this is definitely about the fire department," he said.

Staff Writer Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at 448-7617 or katie.urbaszewski@dailycomet.com.

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